Anti-Water Charges' Five Now in Jail 13 Days

Free the Protestors - Jail the Bankers

The Government acting on behalf of corporate and financial power who have set their eyes on our Water have disgracefully jailed 5 citizens of this country because they said No to Austerity. We demand their freedom immediately. The five are: Derek Byrne, Bernie Hughes, Michael Batty who are imprisoned for 27 days and Paul Moore and Damien Oâ€™Neill who are imprisoned for 56 days.

There is clearly one law for the rich and one law for the rest of us. Where are the bankers and developers who bankrupted this country and led to widespread hardship and a huge increase in suicides in this country, deaths which have devastated families.
And what of the people who have died for lack of resources in our health system and of those evicted from their homes. It is time we stood up to this undemocractic sham and demand our country back from the claws of the elite.

Keep an eye out on social media and any websites related to the campaign against water charges for info on upcoming protests against the jailed 5.

Eight housing activists were today acquitted by the Dublin Criminal Court of Justice, relating to a case spanning back seven months ago, when the charge against them of trespass was thrown out of court.

All eight accused had initially set about into investigating whether or not it was feasible to open up, and re-do, one of the 80 unused flats on Charlemont Street, that had been lying empty for over two years or more. read full story / add a comment

Eight housing activists were today acquitted by the Dublin Criminal Court of Justice, relating to a case spanning back seven months ago, when the charge against them of trespass was thrown out of court.

All eight accused had initially set about into investigating whether or not it was feasible to open up, and re-do, one of the 80 unused flats on Charlemont Street, that had been lying empty for over two years or more.

We Americans (conditioned in the Hebrew tradition) have learned to see enemies in Biblical terms as one-sidedly evil as Satan. It takes a mass media of some very sophisticated accomplishment to continually portray people like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, Muammar Gaddafi, several Middle Eastern leaders as Satan. One needs to be somewhat steeped in the Biblical Literature to create such black and white conclusions. This is one legacy the Bible has bequeathed to modern politics—the absolutism of naming enemy in terms of good versus absolute evil. Israel plays a master game of such portrayal of their supposed enemies. The current leader of Syria, Bashar al-Assad is the new version of Zionist Satan, but even this casting of totally evil Muslim figure is not good enough—we have a new entity that does the most obviously sensational sins—behead journalists and engage in egregious forms of violation—the ISIS/ ISIL phenomenon that America magically armed and some claim even trained (see in alternative media) and magically uses to create even more authoritarian war powers to an already criminal torture state that Barack Obama has no power to quell. read full story / add a comment

An anti-water charges meeting in Ard Mor tonight in West Tallaght has called this protest for Thursday in response to the arrests of anti-water charges protesters and other communities have taken up the call.

On the weekend of 23-25 January, Irish actors, musicians and activists descended on Wales for a weekend of solidarity with WikiLeaks whistleblower Chelsea Manning (formerly known as Bradley Manning) and her family.

The first Truthfest in January 2014 was the brainchild of Irish actor and activist Donal O'Kelly, an idea hatched after he met members of Manning's family during a visit to Dublin organised by Irish Australian activist Ciaron O'Reilly in collaboration with Afri (Action from Ireland) in November 2013. The links forged during that visit have been maintained and strengthened through a series of exchange visits since that time, most recently this 2nd Manning Truthfest.

The WSM have written the following article which neatly sums up the various things happening in the news today and brings them together.

This morning squads of Garda around Dublin mounted dawn raids on the houses of water charges protesters over a sit in 3 months ago in Jobstown. At the same time across the city bankers and other speculators named in the HSBC Geneva Private Bank leaks slept soundly in their beds knowing no one was going to be knocking down their door. If you want to understand the nature of power the contrast provides an excellent example.

Speaking of this mornings events Joe Higgins TD who has been in the process of visiting the various Garda stations where the public representatives are being held said:

“The arrests of AAA TD Paul Murphy, councillors Kieran Mahon and Mick Murphy and a fourth person who remains to be identified to us as we go to press is a cheap attempt to denigrate and weaken water charges movement as we approach make or break time – bills coming out and need for mass non-payment. read full story / add a comment

After the relatively large turn-out to the Anti-Water charges protests over a week ago on Saturday the 31st, the government is worried that their propaganda hasn't worked as well as it should so in response they have launched a new dirty tricks campaign to discredit the Anti-Water charges campaign. They are using the same strategy as that used in the Corrib Gas issue in Mayo over the past decade where the strategy was to criminalise the protests in the eyes of the public. read full story / add a comment

In 2012 public opposition forced the ditching of a plan for a "retirement village" on the side of the Dublin mountains, isolated from services and public transport and cut off by the M50, in an area normally zoned for agriculture and public amenity and widely used by the public. A previous plan for a private school on the site had been rejected for similar reasons in 2005. After the 2014 local elections the plan came back in a lightly tweaked form, with the developer's sister among a number of newly elected councillors supporting the project. A proposal to amend the development plan to include this project is due to be voted on this Tuesday evening, February 10th. Meanwhile some interesting shenanigans have developed. read full story / add a comment

Drogheda, 09-02-15: E.M. Productions® in association with the Improving Horizons Foundation is recruiting for an Adventure Series that will change the lives of twenty ordinary locals through a project that will retrace World War Two’s Greatest Survival Story from 1943.

Long Months of Hard Training – Small Wages – Constant Danger – Honour and Recognition in Case of Success…

Documents released by the ‘whistleblower’ Edward Snowden in late November 2014 revealed that the UK spy facility at GCHQ was targeting undersea cable communications between Ireland and the United Kingdom.

As is usual when such revelations emerge the Irish government (i.e. its Departments of Justice and Communications) wanted to say as little as possible about the issue. read full story / add a comment

Ethical human rights is firmly based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights so removes the UN's 'hidden collectivist agenda' which, in my view, seeks to culturally cleanse the world of individual self-determination. read full story / add a comment

International Brigades commemoration.
Brian Hanley - well known author, will speak on the "Blueshirts, the Irish Christian Front aqnd the Right in Ireland" - Falls Road Library, Belfast, Sat 7th, 11am.

This is part of the AGM/Annual Lecture of the IBCC, the local committee ensuring that the memory of the International Brigadiers is kept alive.read full story / add a comment